FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a telecommunications system in the prior art. Telecommunications system 100 comprises:
i. the Public Switched Telephone Network,
ii. private branch exchange 102,
iii. telecommunications terminals 103-1 and 103-2,
iv. telecommunications terminals 110-1 and 110-2, and
v.; telecommunications terminal 111; all of which are interconnected as shown.
The Public Switched Telephone Network (i.e., element 101) is a complex of telecommunications equipment that is owned and operated by different entities throughout the World. In the United States of America, for example, the Public Switched Telephone Network (or “PSTN”) comprises an address space that is defined by ten digits, and, therefore, comprises 10 billion unique addresses or “telephone numbers.” The Public Switched Telephone Networks in other countries are similar.
The Public Switched Telephone Network provides telecommunications service to telecommunications terminals 110-1, 110-2, and 111. Telecommunications terminals 110-1, 110-2, and 111 can be either wireline terminals or wireless terminals, or a combination of both.
Private branch exchange 102 is capable of switching incoming calls (e.g., from terminal 111, etc.) from the Public Switched Telephone Network via one or more transmission lines to terminals 103-1 and 103-2. Private branch exchange 102 is also capable of handling outgoing calls from terminals 103-1 and 103-2 to the Public Switched Telephone Network via one or more transmission lines.
Private branch exchange 102 is capable of also extending an incoming call (e.g., from terminal 111, etc.) to a telephone number of an “off-premises” terminal in the Public Switched Telephone Network, in addition to switching the same incoming call to an “on-premises terminal” within the enterprise area (e.g., an office building, etc.) that is served by exchange 102. Terminals 103-1 and 103-2 are considered to be on-premises terminals with respect to private branch exchange 102, while terminals 110-1 and 110-2 are considered to be off-premises terminals.
To accomplish the switching of an incoming, enterprise-related call to one of on-premises terminals 103-1 and 103-2, and the extending of the call to one of off-premises terminals 110-1 and 110-2, private branch exchange 102 maintains a table that correlates the off-premises telephone number to the on-premises, private branch exchange (PBX) extension. Table 1 depicts a table that illustrates the correlation.
TABLE 1PBX Extension-to-PSTN Number DatabaseOn-PremisesTelecommunicationsPrivate BranchTelecommunicationsTerminalExchange ExtensionNetwork Number103-1732-555-0102, x11201-555-1236103-2732-555-0102, x12908-555-3381. . .. . .. . .
As an example, a caller at terminal 111 who wishes to reach the PBX user of terminal 103-1 dials the PBX number (i.e., 732-555-0102). Private branch exchange 102 receives the incoming call, including the extension number (i.e., x11). Using information stored in memory and similar to what is shown in Table 1, private branch exchange 102 determines that the call is also to be extended to off-premises telephone number 201-555-1236, associated with terminal 110-1. The off-premises number corresponds to the off-premises terminal (e.g., a cellular phone, a home phone, etc.) that belongs to the PBX user of terminal 103-1. The idea behind transmitting the call to both terminal 103-1 and 110-1 is that if the PBX user is not reachable at his office phone (i.e., terminal 103-1), then maybe he is reachable at a phone that is outside of the office (i.e., terminal 110-1). The caller's experience is enhanced by the caller only having to use a single telephone number to reach the PBX user, even if the user is not in the office.
In contrast, the called PBX user's experience in the prior art can be very different than that of the caller. Even with a call that has been extended to the user from the private branch exchange, the caller has an expectation that the user will respond to the call—and moreover to the caller—as if the user is at the office. The caller, after all, has called a business number. The user, however, answers the call at an outside phone that has a different user interface than that of the office phone. Furthermore, the user might receive only minimal information for establishing the context of the call, which presents additional challenges to the user because the redirected calls that arrive from the private branch exchange are mainly from people (e.g., customers calling tech support, etc.) who are strangers to the user. In using the outside phone, the user's ability to respond to the caller is potentially diminished, compared to using the office phone.
What is needed is a technique to enhance how a telecommunications terminal and its user interact, without some of the disadvantages in the prior art.